Tony Strickland

RAFU WIRE SERVICE AND STAFF REPORTS

Tony Strickland was sworn into the State Senate on March 11 in Sacramento, two weeks after winning the special election to fill the 36th District seat vacated by Janet Nguyen, who returned to the Orange County Board of Supervisors.

Strickland will serve the remainder of fellow Republican Nguyen’s term, which expires Dec. 7. Nguyen, who
previously served on the Board of Supervisors from 2007 to 2014 before being elected to the State Assembly and Senate, replaced Supervisor Andrew Do, who resigned due to bribery charges.

Strickland topped the field of four candidates in the Feb. 25 election with 78,382 votes (51.3%), followed by Democrat, attorney and business owner Jimmy Pham with 41,876 (27.71%); Democrat and disability rights advocate Julie Diep with 20,851 (13.80%); and Republican, business owner and broker John Briscoe with 9,991 (6.61%).

Because Strickland received a majority of the vote, a runoff was not needed.

Strickland pledged in a March 3 news conference, “On day one I’ll fight to lower your gas tax” and “do everything we can to make crime illegal again.”

He served in the Assembly from 1998 through 2004, and State Senate from 2008 through 2012, representing districts in Ventura and Los Angeles counties.

Strickland was elected to the Huntington Beach City Council in 2022 and as the city’s mayor from 2022 through 2023.

The district includes most of coastal Orange County, including Seal Beach, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Emerald Bay, Laguna Beach, Dana Point and San Clemente and Artesia, Cerritos and Hawaiian Gardens in southeastern Los Angeles County. It encompasses the Little Saigon area of Orange County, including Westminster and Garden Grove.